Realization and Confession
by Alasse aka KiraLacus Forever
Summary: The very first story of my oneshort AschLuke pairing series! Luke went to search for food while the others are resting. While in the forest, someone unexpected is following him. AschLuke pairing. Pls RnR!


**Tales of the Abyss**

**The very first fic I ever write for TOA!!**

**And this is the very first story of my one-short Asch/Luke pairing series!**

**All the story will be shounen-ai! If you don't like, don't READ!!!**

**But if you do, go on ahead to RnR!!**

**This story starts before the company going to have a showdown with the god-generals at Mt.Roneal.**

"……………" – normal talking

'……………' – thoughts

**Realization and Confession**

By kiralacusforever

Luke and company are planning to go to Keterburg, while heading through a forest from Belkend. Along the way, they decided to rest for a while, as they find a clear spot and settle down. The girls are chitchatting, Jade just sit by and having thoughts in mind, while Guy is cleaning his sword.

Luke sighs as he stands up, Guy looks at him. "What's wrong, Luke?"

"Oh, it's nothing. I bet everyone's hungry, so I guess I'll go find some fruits in the forest or something."

"Do you want me to accompany you?" Guy is about to stand up when Luke stops him. "No, I'm alright by myself. Mieu, you stay here along with everyone else."

"Yes, Master."

"Be careful, Luke." Tear shouts out to him as Luke just wave and head deep into the forest.

Cutting through the branches that are blocking his way, Luke scans the area for any edible things and monsters. It is then, he feels someone looking at him. He halts in his steps as he listens to the surrounding. Someone is definitely following him.

Twch!

"Who's there?!" Luke turns around in an instance at the sound, when he notices a flash of red passes by. "That's……"

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On the other hand, Asch is pacing fast away from the spot he stood. He is cursing hard inside his mind, mostly about how stupid he is, that he is worried about his replica. Why? He did not know it himself. Why is he worrying about that stupid, infuriating replica of his? He can spend his time on other useful stuffs than watching over that dreck. He did not know what came over him, ever since he last meeting with Luke, he starts to worry for the boy, which he hates it.

He was following the group when they decided to rest and Luke left for the forest in search of food. The god-general follow the teen as he search for food, but Luke seem to notice him. Asch plans to leave immediately when he accidentally step on a branch. 'Dammit!'

"Who's there?!"

Asch quickly turns in the opposite direction as he paces off. He can hear that Luke is chasing him, thus fastening his pace. 'Such an idiot I am. I better get out of here fast!'

"Wait!! Wait up!! ASCH!!"

Not knowing why, Asch stops. 'Damn…' He senses Luke finally catches up behind him as the boy pants hard, trying to catch his breath.

"Asch…"

His origin remains silent and his back to him, as Luke waits anxiously. In his mind, all sort of questions are going through his mind. Why is Asch here? What is he doing? Is he following him? He continues to think until Asch turns around and look pointedly at him.

"You are thinking too much!"

Luke awe in surprise, "You…You heard my thoughts?"

"You idiot, have you forgotten we share a mind link?!" Asch turns his back to Luke again. "And don't get me wrong! I'm not here because I'm worried about you or something!"

Silence.

Asch starts to get nervous at the quietness that his replica is showing. He slowly turns his face and steals a glance at his counterpart. Luke is smiling from side to side at him, with his hands behind as he sways a bit. Asch can feel blood rushing up to his face. Luke is acting so……cute? The god-general shakes off the thought as he turns the other way again to hide the blush. "What…are you smiling at?"

He hears chuckles coming from Luke. "Nothing. Just…happy."

'Happy?' Asch wonders as he turns around and faces Luke. "Why?"

"Because…" Luke grins wider. "Because you are worried about us. That's why you are here, watching over us. That's why…"

"Who said I was worried?! Even if I am worried, it will be Natalia and the others! Not an infuriating replica like you!"

Silence.

'Shit…' Asch starts to feel guilty about the words he just spit out. He steal a glance at Luke, only to see the teen with his face low, while his bangs hide his face. "Hey…what I mean is…"

"No. It's alright, Asch. I understand…" Luke looks up at Asch, smiling forcefully. "You are right. If you are really worried, it will be about the others, not me…never me…I'm…I'm just a replica…I'm…I'm not supposed to exist anyway…" His voice chokes as tears start to fell from his eyes. Why is his heart arching so much when he heard Asch's words? He does not understand this feeling of his.

Asch can feel the pain Luke is having through the mind link. Hell, he is really mad with himself now, for making Luke cry. "I…"

"No…It's…okay…Dust gets into my eyes…I…I better get going…" Luke wipes off his tears as he starts to walk off.

"Hey! Wait…!" Asch wants to stop him until he notices a monster is preparing to leap onto Luke from a high spot. "LUKE!! WATCH OUT!!"

"Eh?!" Luke turns around to notice the monster leaping towards him, before a flash of red covers his view. The next thing he knows is that he is felling backwards, off a cliff. The last thing he saw is blood splashing out before darkness takes over him.

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Dark clouds start to spread through the sky as thunder clashes. Guy paces around until droplets of rain start to drop, he turns to the others. "We better find a shelter."

"What about Luke?"

"He will be alright. I'm sure he's as knowledgeable as he looks, to know what he should do in this situation." Jade smirks as he proceeds forth to find shelter, while the others follow.

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Opening his eyes, Luke scans his surrounding. He is lying on his own folded white clothes; beside him is a campfire as the fire lit up the dark place. It seems like he is inside a cave.

"You finally wake up."

Luke immediately sits up at the voice as he sees Asch sitting across the fire, leaning against the wall. His bangs which are usually combed to the back have fell freely in front of his face. He does not have his outer cape on, only the uniform within that is open up, showing his bare chest. Luke blushes as Asch catches him staring at his chest. Luke immediately turns his glance away.

"Where…Where are we?"

"You've forgotten what happened?"

"All I remember is that a monster is about to attack me when…" He looks back at Asch. "You saved me…"

"Hmph… And caused us to trap down here. Just how stupid and careless can you be, replica?! AH!" Asch clenches onto his back as he winces in pain. Luke rushes up to him, "What happened?! Are you hurt?!"

"No thanks to you…"

"Here, let me see it." Asch tries to protest but Luke just ignores him. Three deep cuts went across the right side of Asch's back, blood is rapidly draining from it. "Man! I'll treat it, lie down for a second!"

Asch reluctantly did as what Luke told him, and lies on his stomach. Luke grabs his white clothes and moves to the entrance of the cave. He drenches the clothes with rain water as he rushes back, and squats down beside his origin. "This might hurt…bare with it."

"Don't need you to tell me…" Asch winces when Luke press the damp clothing on his wounds, as the teen slowly cleans away the blood. After the bloods are clean off, Luke examines the wounds.

"Wait here, I'll go get something." Asch watches as Luke rushes out with the blood stained clothing in hand into the rain. Around five minutes have past, as Asch starts to get worry. He is about to get up to find Luke when he hears footsteps. "Hey! Don't try to get up!"

Luke is drenched from top to bottom as he squats down beside Asch, and lays down his clothing which blood have been wash off from it. On the clothing are some leaves and fruits. Luke grabs two stones, one big and one small, as he puts the leaves on the big stones and grinds it with the smaller one. Asch just lies there beside him as he watches Luke slowly grinds the leaves into minces.

"There, this should do the trick." Luke grabs his white clothing and tears off the bottom part. He places the grinded leaves on the torn clothing, and places it on top of the wounds. Asch winces a little at the sharp pain but settles down at the cooling feeling. "Asch, I need you to sit back up for a while."

Asch did as he told, as Luke slowly wraps the clothing around Asch's body. Asch blushes when Luke's face is having a close contact with his, while entwining the cloth around him. Luke ends the bandaging with a knot as he sits back and lets out a sigh of relief. "I hope this will heal your wound…Sorry if I did it badly…"

Asch says nothing as he brushes a hand over the bandaging. Badly? He did great. It is something that Asch did not expect his replica to do, and so nicely done. Asch looks from the remains of the leaves and to Luke, wondering how he gets this idea. Luke gets his clue and grins. "If you are wondering how I came up with this method…Well, Mieu taught me about it, he said that this kind of leaves are good for treating wounds. So…I thought it will help you…"

Asch says nothing as he slowly leans back on the wall, while Luke shifts closer to the campfire. He throws in some of the branches that Asch had picked up earlier into the fire, as he rubs his hands together to gain warmth. He breaks the silence as he sneezes non-stop. Asch sighs at the sight as he looks up at him. "Hey."

Luke turns to Asch, but his face is straight away hit with blackness. He pulls the cloth down to notice it is Asch's other cape that he had taken off. He looks up to see the god-general pats the empty space beside him. Luke hesitates for a while before hugging the cape to his chest and moves towards his origin. He sits down beside Asch but left a gap between them. Asch growls as he places his arm around Luke's shoulder and pulls him nearer, surprising the teen with the sudden action.

'My heart…it's beating so fast…but why did Asch…? I thought…he hates me…'

"I don't hate you…"

"Eh?" Luke tilts his head up to see Asch looking down at him. He is not glaring, or staring at him like before. His eyes…are so gentle-looking, so unlike the Asch he knew. Luke brushes the thought away. How much did he think that he knows about Asch anyway? Asch is right…He is such an idiot…

"I thought I told you that you are thinking too much."

"But…Asch…you…hate me, right? Why did you save me? A replica like me…I who stolen everything from you…I who destroyed Akzeriuth……I who…not supposed to exist at all…"

"THAT'S IT!!" Asch pushes Luke down to the ground, ignoring the pain his wounds are acting on. Luke groans at the impact as he looks up at Asch, his red bangs are covering his face. "Why must you say all this?! You think it's all your fault?! You think that your death could bring everything back?! You think you are not supposed to exist?! Don't make me laugh!! You think no one will grieve for your death?! Is your life that worthless?!"

"But…nobody will care…"

"I WILL!!"

Luke's eyes widen as Asch's words repeats themselves in his mind. Asch…cares?

Asch gets off from him as he turns his back to Luke, as the teen slowly sits up. Luke is lost, he does not know what to do or say, after hearing what Asch had said. "Asch…I…"

"I do not know what's gotten over me…" Asch cuts him, his back still facing him. "These past few days, after our last meeting…I…I have been thinking about you…I don't know why…I don't understand this feeling…or maybe…I'm not trying to understand it…"

"Asch…"

"But I admit it now, and I sure of it. I…I like you, Luke."

Silence overtakes the cave when there is no response from Luke, Asch starts to get nervous. But, a pair of arms slowly wraps themselves around his waist and he can feel Luke's head lying on his back, avoiding the wounds. "Luke?"

"Me too, Asch…I wasn't able to accept this feeling I had for you…Because I…I'm terrified…" Asch feels wetness and trembling on his back as he turns around to Luke, who has his face facing downwards. "Luke, look at me. Luke." He holds the teen's chin up to see him crying.

Asch leans closer as he kisses the tears away, until he pulls Luke closer to kiss on his lips. Luke entwines his arms around Asch's neck as the kiss deepens, with Asch dominating. He slowly lays Luke down to the ground while grabbing his cape to place it under Luke. They break off for breath as they look lustfully at each other, as Asch brushes his fingers along Luke's cheek. "Are you sure you want this, Luke?"

Luke blushes a little as he smiles and touches Asch's face. "As long it's you…I don't mind about it…But, your wounds…" His words are cut off when Asch places a finger on his lips, as he smirks.

"Don't underestimate me."

With that, Asch leans down and covers Luke's lips with his.

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The rain had rained through the night until the next morning. Guy and the others come out from their hiding after the rain had stopped, as they move into the forest to search for Luke.

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Luke moans as the sunlight coming from the entrance shines on his face. He cracks his eyes open to find himself looking straight at Asch's sleeping face. He is shock at first, wondering why is Asch so near to him, when he remembers about the previous night. He blushes hard as he realises that both of them are still naked, only covered by Asch's cape, though it is not quite big enough for them both. Stroking through the red hair that fell onto Asch's face, Luke giggles as he leans in to place a soft kiss on his lover's lips.

He is about to lean back when a hand pushes the back of his head, causing him to be in a deep kiss with Asch. Asch rolls them over until he is on top before he breaks off and smirks down at Luke, who is panting and blushing hard. "Good morning. Have a nice sleep?"

Luke pouts but chuckles as he entwines his arms around Asch's neck and pulls him closer for an embrace. He nibbles and licks Asch's ear, causing his origin to moan in pleasure. "Never better."

They sit up as they look towards the entrance. "It's morning now and the rain has stopped. They must be finding you now. Let's get changed." Luke nods as they grab their clothes and change into it, through the bottom part of Luke's clothing is torn off.

They step out from the cave as they shield themselves from the brightness, until they hear the others calling out to Luke somewhere. Asch looks over to Luke, "They are searching for you, go back to them."

Luke looks down, "Will…Will we meet again?"

"_We will."_

"Eh?" Luke looks up to see Asch smiling down at him. "Asch…did I just heard you…?" Asch stops him by placing his finger on his lips.

"_Yes, I'm talking to you through the mind link."_

"_But..." _Luke places his hand on his head. _"I don't have any headaches like before when you contacted me..."_

Asch chuckles. _"It seems that our little event last night did something to it." _Luke blushes hard at the mention of last night. _"I got to get going." _He leans forth to place one last gentle kiss on Luke's lips, before he moves out in another direction.

Luke remains on his spot as he touches his lips, which the feeling still lingers there. Hearing his companions calling out to him, Luke shouts back to them.

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"Where have you been, Luke?! We are so worried!"

"Well, it was raining, so I find a shelter."

Tear notices his clothes are torn and there are a few blood stains on it. "Luke! Are you hurt?!"

"Oh this? Nah, some monster tore it and it's the blood of them." He was sure that he feels a feeling linger in his mind suddenly after saying that. It must be Asch. "Come on, let's get moving!"

The group proceed as Luke is at the most behind. _"Asch, can you hear me?" _He waits for the reply anxiously. Maybe it changes the headaches but not the method that allows him to contact Asch. He sighs in disappointment as he walks on.

"_Who are you calling a monster?"_

Luke jerks a little at the voice. _"Asch?! It worked?!"_

"_Yeah, it seems like you can contact me now too. When did I become a monster anyway?"_

"_Sorry, I need to find an excuse. How are your wounds?"_

"_It seems that your medicine is working well, the pain is subsiding. You are planning to head to Keterburg next right?"_

"_Yeah."_

"_I have something else to do. But I might try to meet you there."_

"_Alright."_

"_Luke."_

"_Yes?"_

"_I love you."_

Luke halts in his step, which Guy notices it. "What is it, Luke?" The teen just smiles at him. "It's nothing. Let's go." He moves on with the group.

"_And I love you too, Asch."_

**The End**

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**Finished!! Lolx**

**Maybe you think Asch is a bit OOC, but I love him like that.**

**Stay tuned for other upcoming one-shot series!! They will all be connected!!**

**Pls Read n REVIEW!!!**


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